A 40-something Western Canadian who still thinks he's 24. Dreamer, thinker, photographer, traveler, entrepreneur, software developer. Adores women immensely but is still working hard at trying to understand them! :-)

This is my personal blog and primarily focuses on my photography & videography.

Friday, May 18, 2007

In my work with BC Digital Divide, one meets all kinds of people: good, not very good, and everything in between. The ones that irritate me beyond belief are those who have seemingly (and unnecessarily) been on government assistance all of their lives. They've got the victim acting role down to a fine art and play it for all it's worth. In the worst cases, there's absolutely no gratitude. It's all about them, all about how hard done by they are. 3 words come to mind: Take, Take, Take!!!

But thankfully they're in the small minority of people we meet. Maybe we're just better at screening them out early on than government agencies are. Also, unlike government agencies, we actually don't have to respond to them.

The true gems are the ones that keep me motivated. Such is the case with a young Guatemalan family that has truly touched my heart. The parents, Manuel & Isabel, moved here about 12 years ago. They have a son, Brian, and a younger daughter, Shirley. They've become more than mere recipients to me. This evening I was visiting them and reminiscing about the party I held last weekend, which they attended. Because of some gifts I brought them on behalf of another friend, they gave me this little handmade gift to give to my friend's wife. She's a music teacher and in fact, just purchased some xylophones for her classes. She will be very touched.

No real moral here other than for all of us to ignore the selfish, greedy, rude folks we encounter every day and instead focus our hearts & minds on the great ones we encounter perhaps a bit less frequently.

1 comment:

That's a beautiful gift! It is nice to find decent people! Yes, I've met "professional" welfare people, I think that people who get free handouts, often don't appreciate them, they also don't have any selfworth. It feels good, to have worked for something!

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"Pelalusa" is a glorious Spanish-sounding word that means ... well ... absolutely nothing! The word doesn't actually exist. But it sure sounds like it means something!!
While living in Mexico City in 1996/97 I would often ask my friends the meaning of this word and that. One day I asked what "pelalusa" meant, for it just 'sounded' like a word that would mean something en Español. But alas, it does not.

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I've launched a new website called Pelalusa.com. Eventually it'll become a fully fledged social networking site but for now it's just a fun travel site, showcasing my journeys and photography. I hope you enjoy it and I always welcome suggestions to improve it.

This new site will be advertising sponsored. What's different about it though is that 50% of the profits (eventually increasing towards 100%) will be donated to philanthropic efforts such as BC Digital Divide. It'll be a global effort, with a particular focus on technology and education.

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